Gender, War, and Militarism - Feminist Perspectives

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Hardcover: 296 pages
Publisher: Praeger Security International (2010)
Language: English
pISBN-10: 0-313391432
pISBN-13: 978-0-31339-143-9
eISBN-10: 0-31339-144-0
eISBN13: 978-0-31339-144-6

This compelling, interdisciplinary compilation of essays documents the extensive, intersubjective relationships between gender, war, and militarism in 21st-century global politics.

Militarization pervades everyday life, and gender pervades militarization. The statement may be surprising, but if accepted as fact, it suggests that understanding the role of women in 21st-century, post-9/11 military conflicts necessitates analysis of the gendering of those conflicts and the militaries (and nonstate groups) engaged in them.

Feminist scholars have long contended that war and militarism are fundamentally gendered. Gender, War, and Militarism: Feminist Perspectives provides empirical evidence, theoretical innovation, and interdisciplinary conversation on the topic, while explicitly—and uniquely—considering the links between gender, war, and militarism. Essentially an interdisciplinary conversation between scholars studying gender in political science, anthropology, and sociology, the essays here all turn their attention to the same questions. How are war and militarism gendered?

Seventeen innovative explanations of different intersections of the gendering of global politics and global conflict examine the theoretical relationship between gender, militarization, and security; the deployment of gender and sexuality in times of conflict; sexual violence in war and conflict; post-conflict reconstruction; and gender and militarism in media and literary accounts of war. Together, these essays make a coherent argument that reveals that, although it takes different forms, gendering is a constant feature of 21st-century militarism.

Features
• 17 essays by top feminist scholars from across disciplines
• An introduction and conclusion explaining the book's theoretical framework and key insights
• Tables and charts
• A bibliography

Highlights
• Gathers and analyzes important information about the gendered nature of contemporary conflict, applying feminist gender theory to real-world conflicts in Israel/Palestine, Iraq, sub-Saharan Africa, East Timor, the Balkans, and Latin America
• Takes an interdisciplinary approach that highlights a number of intersections often missing from single-discipline discussions
• Analyzes gendering perpetrated by the media in reporting on the conflicts, as well as gendered elements in postconflict peacekeeping and reconstruction
• Investigates and elucidates the role of women in nonstate ("terrorist") groups in locales such as Palestine, Sri Lanka, and Chechnya

Author Info:

Laura Sjoberg, PhD, is assistant professor of political science at the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. She holds a PhD in international relations and a JD specializing in international law. Dr. Sjoberg is author and editor of a number of books and articles, most recently, Gender and International Security: Feminist Perspectives.

Sandra Via is a PhD candidate in the planning, governance, and globalization program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA.


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